Telecommunication network operators providing telecommunications services such as wireless voice and data services face significant competition for both prepaid and postpaid accounts. To attract new subscribers and retain existing subscribers in this highly competitive industry, the telecommunication network operator or service provider must be able to introduce a variety of services in a timely manner. An important factor in the implementation of new services is the ability to quickly change service offerings based on the service provider's approach to the market and on competitors' offerings. Service providers can react to competitors' changes in a variety of ways including reconfiguring the provider's service features and options, issuing promotions, offering bonuses, and providing loyalty programs. Accordingly, it is very important to have the ability to create and modify rating plans and promotions for new and existing services without incurring long development cycles, or requiring modifications to the rating parameters of other, unrelated services.
Providers of telecommunication services are rethinking the paradigms for service rating and charging, desiring to move away from the current “flat-fee” or “per megabyte” schemes. A more dynamic rating system that considers the type of content and the quality of service, and that can offer more value to subscribers is needed to support the demand for new services. To realize full revenue potentials, it is imperative that charges for new services be based on their perceived value to the subscriber. Unfortunately, at present, the service provider often has to introduce new services at a flat rate because the market is ready for new services before corresponding service rating and charging systems can be upgraded to charge for the new services in another fashion.
Rating engines must be able to perform in a real-time fashion and, at the same time, allow for the implementation of new rating plans and promotions in a simple and timely manner. Rule-based rating systems enable the user to add new offerings and change existing offerings simply by adding and modifying rating rules. However, to gain real-time efficiency, the rule languages often are restrictive. One alternative is functional rating, which uses mathematical functions, expressions, and table references that contain conditions and pricing components of rules. The incorporation of functional rating into the rules language can greatly reduce the number of rules needed to implement a pricing policy, and enables the expression of complex rules without the need for modifying executable code.
Moreover, as telecommunication network operators and service providers transition from circuit-switched to packet-based next generation networks, their charging infrastructure must not only support existing services but also include new capabilities available in the IP domain. Hence, a single solution that supports convergence of voice, short messaging services (SMS) and data/digital content is needed. The platform should operate in both the prepaid and postpaid environment, and should be capable of charging for both circuit switched (SS7) and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS).
Additionally, a service provider often needs to define multiple accounts or counters for a subscriber, and, in complicated prepaid and postpaid charging applications, there is a need for simultaneous handling of multiple subscriber accounts and counters. Currently, only fixed use accounts or counters, and other charging systems which use a fixed hard-coded number of account balances and usage counters are available in charging applications. These accounts and counters can only be used for their original, intended purpose, such as for a single account for free SMS, and a counter for monthly SMS usage. Because traditionally these accounts and counters are hard-coded, software modifications are required for every new service capability or business offering. This is an inadequate solution for today's fast changing business needs.
There is a further need, particularly for wireless phone service, to limit the times during the day and/or week when calls can be made or received. It is also necessary to permit these calendar restrictions to be to selectively bypassed, to allow for calls to or from certain numbers to occur, even during a restricted period. Two common examples are as follows. In the first, a parent might want to give her child a mobile phone, but may not want the child to be able to use that phone during school hours, church hours, dinner time, or late at night. However, the parent also might want the ability to always be able to call that child on his or her mobile phone, regardless of any calendar restrictions. The parent might also want calls to and from grandparents, next door neighbors, or specific others to always be allowed. In the second, an employer might want to provide mobile phones to his employees, but may not want them to be able to use the phones during off-hours or over the weekend for personal use. However, the employer may want to always allow calls to and from certain numbers associated with the business, even during restricted periods.
Accordingly, the list of numbers that will always be allowed, i.e., that will bypass the calendar restrictions, should be configurable on a number of different hierarchical levels. For example, it could be configured across all of the service provider's subscribers, across all subscribers within a particular plan, or on an individual subscriber's level.
Consequently, there is a need, particularly for wireless real-time phone service, e.g. prepaid, to be able to charge and/or track usage using a variety of accounts, counters, or other entities, particularly at different hierarchical levels. This capability can be particularly useful for families, where certain accounts apply at the family-wide level while other accounts apply at the individual family member level. It can also be useful for enterprise customers, where certain accounts apply at the organization-wide or department-wide level, while other accounts apply at the individual employee's level.
Others have solved this problem through the use of back-office systems that may be near-real-time but non-real-time. These systems use network generated data that is delivered at some frequency after call/session/event termination to analyze a function, and allocate its charge to the appropriate account or entity. Some functions, e.g., call/session control, cannot be done at all in a non-real-time system. Other functions, e.g., tracking & managing usage by account or entity, are less effective non-real-time.
Finally, it is desirable to be able to determine billing based on the identity of the calling party and/or the called party.